1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an electric vehicle having regenerative braking and operator controls related to the regenerative braking.
2. Background Art
Market share of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) is increasing due to concerns about pollution in dense population centers and a desire to increase overall operating vehicular efficiency. One important advantage that EVs and HEVs have over vehicles powered solely by an internal combustion engine is that the electric motor coupled to vehicle wheels can be operated as a generator to recover braking energy and store that energy in an onboard vehicle battery for later use.
Many patents describe systems and methods for performing regenerative braking in the context of a four-wheeled automotive vehicle in which the operator indicates a braking desire through a single actuator, e.g., a brake pedal. In the case of two-wheeled vehicles, however, it is common for the operator to be supplied two brake inputs. Typical motorcycles provide a hand brake coupled to a front wheel brake and a foot pedal coupled to a rear wheel brake. Typical step-through scooters normally have levers for operation of the front brake with the right hand and the rear brake with the left hand. The operator chooses to operate one or both of the brake input devices depending on the level of braking desired, the vehicle speed, the traction conditions, etc. In an EV or HEV, in which two brake input devices are provided, operator input is to be mapped into an appropriate braking response in an environment including both friction braking and regenerative braking.